The best Nvidia graphics cards offer gamers and creators alike some of the most advanced features on the market, including the best graphics card available from a pure performance perspective, the mighty Nvidia RTX 5090.
Below that lofty premium, though, Nvidia has a lot of great options across the spectrum, such as one of the best cheap graphics cards you can find, the Nvidia RTX 4060, and a whole range of fantastic gaming options, like the Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti, my overall top pick for the best Nvidia GPU for the most people.
I've tested and reviewed more than three dozen graphics cards over the last three years and spent hundreds of hours in the lab testing graphics cards, so I know my GPUs, and all of my picks on this list are backed up by my extensive benchmarking process. I've brought all that expertise to this list to help you find the best Nvidia graphics card for your needs, no matter the budget.
The quick list
Value | ★★★★☆
Features | ★★★★★
Power | ★★★★★
The Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti is the best Nvidia graphics card of this generation overall, thanks to its outstanding performance and (relatively) reasonable price, though finding it at MSRP will be a challenge.
While the Nvidia RTX 4060 doesn't have the 'Wow!" factor that the Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti did, it's still the best cheap Nvidia graphics card on the market, so for a lot of gamers out there, this just might be the card you've been looking for to upgrade a budget gaming rig.
Value | ★★★★☆
Features | ★★★★☆
Power | ★★★★☆
While the Nvidia RTX 5080 doesn't have the same level of performance as the Nvidia RTX 5090, it's still plenty powerful as a 4K gaming GPU, managing close to RTX 4090 performance in gaming for significantly less.
Value | ★★★☆☆
Features | ★★★★☆
Power | ★★★★★
The RTX 5090 is an absolute powerhouse of a GPU when it comes to creative work, chewing through 3D modeling, video editing, and more with ease. Its high price and power consumption puts it out of reach for just about everybody, though.
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super is the best graphics card of Team Green's last generation for most people, thanks to its powerful performance and great price, even matching the performance of the Nvidia RTX 5070 in many cases.
The best Nvidia graphics cards in 2025
Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
Below you'll find my top picks for the best Nvidia graphics card of 2025. I've tested each card extensively, so you can trust that I'm only recommending the best options on the market for your needs and budget.
The best Nvidia graphics card overall
When it comes to Nvidia’s current lineup, the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti stands out as the clear best choice overall, based on my testing. It strikes an ideal balance between high-end performance and price, even given price inflation rattling GPU markets.
In testing, the 5070 Ti delivered outstanding 4K gaming performance, handling the latest titles with ease and requiring minimal compromises on visual settings. It offers the kind of smoothness and consistency, often averaging around 90 frames per second at 4K, that you would normally expect from far more expensive cards.
But the appeal of the RTX 5070 Ti doesn’t stop with gaming. Creative professionals who work in 3D modeling, video editing, or AI development will find this card more than capable. It delivers performance levels close to specialized workstation GPUs, but without the sky-high cost, making it a smart pick for serious productivity tasks as well.
While getting this card at or even close to MSRP will be tough, every card on the market is experiencing the same issue, and so the RTX 5070 Ti's pricing relative to the rest of the market still makes it the strongest value proposition of Nvidia's premium GPUs.
If you’re building a high-end gaming PC or upgrading an older RTX 3000-series card, the RTX 5070 Ti is the best investment you can make right now. It delivers near-enthusiast-grade performance without the massive premium usually attached.
Read the full Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti review
Also consider
The best budget Nvidia graphics card
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 remains the best budget option from Nvidia, at least until the RTX 5060 is released in the weeks ahead.
While some might have anticipated a major performance jump for the RTX 4060 over the RTX 3060, similar to higher-end Lovelace GPUs like the RTX 4080, the real strength of the RTX 4060 lies in its value. Priced under $300/£300, it’s more affordable than many remaining RTX 3060 models on the market, making it an excellent entry point for gamers looking to upgrade without coughing up a small fortune.
Although it may not be a massive leap for those who already own an RTX 3060, it’s a fantastic choice for gamers moving up from older GPUs. If you’re still running something like a GTX 1060, GTX 1660, or an older AMD card, the RTX 4060 delivers a substantial boost in performance.
Naturally, being a budget card, the RTX 4060 has its trade-offs. The 8GB VRAM and narrower 128-bit memory bus can limit its capabilities, especially at higher 1440p resolutions.
However, thanks to Nvidia’s DLSS 3 technology, the card still handled more demanding games surprisingly well in my testing, giving it a major edge in this price range.
With all that said, I would recommend waiting a couple of weeks until we see what the RTX 5060 has to offer, given it will launch at the same price as the RTX 4060. On the one hand, the RTX 5060 might be a much more powerful graphics card, in which case it'll offer a better value. On the other, the RTX 5060 launch might help bring the price of the RTX 4060 down somewhat, so it's a win-win either way.
Read the full Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 review
Also consider
The best Nvidia graphics card for gaming
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 stands out as the best gaming graphics card Nvidia has to offer right now, balancing elite performance with a price point that, while wildly inflated, is still relatively similar to the inflated price points of the RTX 4080 Super.
However, which card you choose and where you find it can make a big difference in how good a value this card is. The RTX 5080 remains in high demand, which in turn is driving stock shortages and price-gouging pretty much across the market, so any extra bells and whistles on this card will drive the price even higher.
Beyond the vagaries of the market, performance-wise, the RTX 5080 offers a noticeable upgrade over previous-generation cards, though the gen-on-gen jump from the RTX 4080 and 4080 Super is fairly modest (about 8–13% in my testing).
It still offers important enhancements, especially with new technologies like DLSS 4 and Multi-Frame Generation. That said, if you already own an RTX 4080 or 4080 Super, the upgrade might not justify the cost purely for the small performance boost.
For gamers upgrading from the RTX 30-series or older AMD models, however, the RTX 5080 is a game-changer. It delivers outstanding 4K performance, high frame rates in demanding titles, and cutting-edge feature support that elevates the entire gaming experience well above what you'd get with even the best graphics cards of the RTX 30 series.
If you’re looking for the best Nvidia card specifically for high-end gaming, without stepping into the ultra-premium territory of the RTX 4090 or RTX 5090, the RTX 5080 is the clear winner. Just be prepared to hunt for a good deal, as demand continues to keep it a hot and hard-to-find commodity.
Read the full Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 review
Also Consider
The best Nvidia graphics card for creatives
For creative work like 3D modeling and video editing, I’ve never used a graphics card that comes close to what the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 delivers in terms of performance.
If you’re serious about creative performance, this card is an incredible tool for professional users, but the already eye-watering MSRP really puts it into a very select class of users who can afford the investment (or at least use someone else's money).
For those who can swing the premium pricetag, you're getting a staggering 33% increase in multiprocessors, upgraded CUDA and Tensor cores, and a massive 32GB of lightning-fast GDDR7 VRAM. It absolutely dwarfs the previous Nvidia powerhouse, the RTX 4090, and AMD simply doesn’t have a competing product in this arena.
During my testing, I also found that, while it’s technically a gaming card, too, the RTX 5090 is complete overkill for anything but the most extreme setups. It’s the first GPU where I could actually play games at native 8K resolution and even max out ray tracing at 4K without any compromise.
Of course, all this power comes at a steep price, both money-wise and power consumption. You’re looking at a cost equivalent to a decent used car given the inflated prices being charged, and you can pretty much forget about finding it at MSRP.
Plus, with its monstrous 575W power draw, it’s not just your wallet that’ll feel the hit. But if you need the absolute best for creative workloads, there’s no real alternative — the RTX 5090 is it.
Read the full Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 review
Also consider
The best last-gen Nvidia graphics card
Of all of Nvidia's last generation of GPUs, the Nvidia RTX 4070 Super remains my favorite. It delivers fantastic performance for the same MSRP as the original RTX 4070, but with meaningful improvements that make it the standout card of the last generation.
With more streaming multiprocessors and a faster base clock, the 4070 Super easily outpaces the standard 4070 in real-world performance and can even match the current-gen RTX 5070 in many workloads.
The 12GB of GDDR6X VRAM puts something of a limit on this card's 4K gaming potential, and if you're aiming for the absolute best 4K experience, I’d recommend stepping up to the RTX 5070 Ti or 5080. But for 1440p gaming, which is the real sweet spot for most players, the RTX 4070 Super shines. Thanks to DLSS 3 with Frame Generation and Nvidia Reflex, games feel smoother, sharper, and responsive.
Even when stacked against AMD’s competition, like the RX 7800 XT and RX 9070, the 4070 Super holds its ground. While AMD's latest cards have their strengths at 1440p, especially raw frame rates, Nvidia’s superior ray tracing performance and overall feature set keep the RTX 4070 Super super relevant well into this new generation of GPUs.
Read the full Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super review
Also consider
best Nvidia graphics card: FAQs
What is Nvidia's best GPU?
If you're talking about pure performance, there's no question that the Nvidia RTX 5090 is the best consumer graphics card on the market, but there's more to being the 'best' than raw performance. The Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti, which offers a fantastic balance between performance and price, is our pick for the best Nvidia GPU overall.
Is Nvidia GTX or RTX better?
Nvidia RTX cards are the latest generations of Nvidia consumer graphics, and have advanced features like ray tracing, DLSS 3 with Frame Generation, and more powerful Tensor cores for AI workloads. Nvidia GTX cards are several years old by now, and while they aren't necessarily bad, they aren't nearly as feature-rich as Nvidia's more recent RTX offerings.
How to choose the right Nvidia graphics card
There are a lot of things to consider when choosing an Nvidia graphics card.
First, Nvidia cards are generally more expensive than the best AMD graphics cards, so price is going to be a big concern. If you're looking for the best deals, the Nvidia RTX 40 series GPUs are excellent options across a range of price points.
As for current-gen cards, on the mainstream side, the RTX 5060 Ti is a great graphics card for an acceptable price point, but if you're a gamer with some money to spend, both the Nvidia RTX 4070 Super and Nvidia RTX 5080 are superb 1440p and 4K graphics cards, respectively, at least if you can find them in stock.
And if you're a creative professional or you're working in AI, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 is the most powerful card on the market with the advanced hardware you'll need to get your work done. Just be prepared to pay a real premium for the privilege.
How we test the best Nvidia graphics cards
When we review graphics cards, we adhere to a uniform testing methodology, assessing their performance using a set of approximately 8-10 games, testing it at various resolutions and using the latest drivers.
Furthermore, we conduct fresh tests on all current-generation graphics cards each time a new one enters the market, ensuring they are all evaluated using identical hardware. This involves the same processor, memory at an equivalent speed, the same motherboard, and the same SSD. This approach is crucial for accurately gauging the performance of the graphics card itself and facilitates a more dependable comparison with its competitors.
Our thorough documentation covers all aspects, including the graphics card's power consumption and temperature under load. Additionally, we examine the features offered by each graphics card, although these typically do not vary significantly from one generation to the next.
Today's best Nvidia graphics card deals
